A/N: Hey reader! I hope you're well and getting through this crazy year. Before we get into this chapter, I'd just like to give a heads-up about a character I'm introducing. Just for anyone who doesn't know about Silver Sonic II, he is seen in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut in the background and has no role in the games. However, he's introduced in the Archie Comics (Issue #85) and is given a personality of his own. His personality is surprisingly large and mirrors Sonic's much more closely than Metal Sonic's does, even copying some of Sonic's catchphrases. In contrast, though, he has no compunction about harming other people and will do so to get to Sonic.
The dark corridors swallowed Neo whole, and Mecha let him go. Maybe it was for the best to let him be, but no amount of calculations would help Mecha to understand the odds of that. Figuring others out is was difficult and technically unnecessary, considering his purpose as a killing machine. Perhaps this unnecessary action was something that he had picked up from his younger sibling? He would have to ponder that later.
For now, he would resume his usual patrol routine until Eggman gave him some other directive, or until Neo came back.
Mecha straightened and scanned his surroundings. A quick ping of Eggman's network told him that the ship's Egg Pawns were far on the other side. Unsurprising, considering the recent circumstances.
But one ping came back that he did not recognize.
Some kind of hedgehog-series bot, perhaps?
Had the doctor had already constructed a new robot to take Sonic down after Metal Sonic's episode?
Mecha advanced towards the signal.
His defensive protocols activated without any conscious input as they normally did in the face of potential danger.
The signal brought him to a dimly-lit corridor. Mecha stepped to one side by the wall so as to avoid the eyes of any enemies and scanned the path ahead to the best of his ability.
Unknown entity. Signal is similar to known hedgehog-series bots.
Some kind of obsolete model, perhaps? But how?
And why couldn't he get a hold of its power reading-
Two metal fingers clinked against Mecha's shoulder plating.
"Ahem. It's rude to scan some 'bot without asking!"
Mecha wheeled around and came face-to-face with a bright orange visor and reflective steel face. Immediately on the defensive, Mecha lurched backward and prepared to protect himself with his large, clunky fists raised.
"Identify yourself immediately or I will initiate an attack protocol." Mecha demanded, his red visor rapidly brightening to increase the visibility of his target.
In response, the other robot just laughed.
Mecha was jarred by the emotiveness of this strange robot, unsure of what to make of it. He was used to being laughed at by Sonic in battle, but not by another robot who may or may not attack him first. He struggled to place what exactly it meant.
The strange robot eventually calmed down, placing its hands on its knees as if tired out from the act of laughing too hard. After a few moments, it looked back up at Mecha with a smirk.
"Did I scare ya?"
"No." Mecha replied in a deadpan tone, "State your model number and purpose."
"I don't do model numbers old-timer." The robot began, straightening up to meet the other robot's gaze properly. "Name's Silver Sonic, MK II if you wanna get specific. As for my purpose, it's probably the same as yours, ain't it? We're only made for one thing after all."
Mecha considered this as he looked the smaller robot up and down. "Your model design is similar to mine. Thus, you too were constructed to eliminate the hedgehog."
Silver Sonic grinned back at him and rubbed one finger below his own nose. "Ya got it."
The smaller robot was slightly wet and any movements caused a strange green liquid to drop from his plating. Mecha noticed this and only grew more confused about where the other 'bot had come from, or what he was doing here.
"Why are you here." Mecha pressed him, logging each piece of information meticulously.
"Well, technically I'm not meant to be here. See, during the whole, Metal Sonic went insane thing, my cryotube was broken aboard the Egg Carrier next to this ship. I wasn't just gonna stand around doing nothing. Plus, there's only so many times you can scroll through descriptions of the hedgehog without part of your CPU shutting off." Silver Sonic nudged the taller robot with his thick elbow plating and grinned. "I bet you know exactly what I mean."
Mecha just stared at him.
"Jeez, well, don't get too excited there, you might blow a gasket." Silver Sonic sarcastically deflated and stepped back from Mecha.
"Excitement is not in my programming." Mecha simply responded.
"No shit, old-timer." Silver Sonic lightly nudged Mecha's shoulder with his fist before starting off down one of the many hallways. "Maybe you can help me with somethin' here?"
"Why should I assist you." Mecha flatly demanded after him.
Silver Sonic paused and threw a glance over his shoulder, "well, why did you help Metal Sonic?"
"Because-" Mecha stopped, wondering what his brother would think of his words as he slowly followed after the newer robot. "Because that unit temporarily ruled the empire. It was thus the most logical course of action to retain my functionality. That is all."
"Yeah, yeah. See, I think there's more to it than that though." Silver Sonic murmured to himself. "Oh and, he was kinda a shit boss if you ask me."
Mecha partially tuned out the younger robot's speech to listen out for any sign of his sibling. "Your vocal processor appears to be working in over-time. I suggest you run a diagnostic scan on it."
Silver Sonic paused and threw another look over his shoulder. "Are you in piss-take mode?"
Mecha shrugged one shoulder and walked by. "I do not possess a "piss-take" mode. Shall I search for this on the network?"
Silver Sonic gave a snicker and caught up to the older robot, walking by his side. "Sarcasm, huh? I like it. Maybe you're cool after all."
"Then allow me to adjust the climate control."
"What- No! Oh... You're making a joke. Very funny, old-timer." Silver prodded his companion in the side and grinned.
Mecha noted the repeated initiations of physical contact. It reminded him of Neo, and he had to wonder why Eggman would program yet another robot that could seemingly feel emotions and sensations. Had he learned nothing from previous experience? Perhaps not. Or maybe that was why this robot had been sealed away and kept hidden for so long.
The pair arrived at a huge, mostly empty room. Mecha immediately recognized it as the same room that he and Neo would watch the live feeds in. Now, most of the screens were just static, damaged by the battle between Metal Overlord and Sonic. Just the main screen remained functional.
Silver Sonic's fingers flew across a keypad below the main screen with ease, seemingly unfazed by Mecha looming over his shoulder.
"So, I've been snooping around, looking at video files, et cetera et cetera. And while I was looking I noticed something." Silver began, continuing to type away as if mastering this technology was second nature to him. Finally, he stopped and flicked one finger up on the touchpad, bringing up a video file onto the screen. He stepped back and looked up, prompting Mecha to do the same.
The video was footage of a fight scene. The time in the top right corner was 6:01 PM.
Mecha immediately registered that Sonic was there, but in a strange new form that radiated hatred and instability.
His opponent was Metal Sonic, who seemed just as unhinged as he did.
Heard clearly over the commotion, Eggman yelled for his creation to fall back.
Metal Sonic refused.
Silver paused the footage, now bringing up a different recording.
This time it was the footage that Neo had taken during his own training - Mecha recognized it instantly.
"What is the meaning of this." Mecha plainly asked, stepping back and turning to face Silver Sonic. "All you are displaying is footage of another hedgehog-series robot."
"I have... opinions, old-timer." Silver stated as the video of Neo played behind him. "Don't you see it? Our directive is to eliminate the hedgehog, but once we get to that point he calls us back and changes his mind before any 'bot can fulfill the objective. Eggman doesn't want us to kill Sonic, but it's in our programming as clear as day! Even I know that, and I've not been online for more than a day."
Mecha cocked his head to one side, a gesture learned from Neo. "Continue."
"So... The result is this." Silver Sonic gestured with his thumb over his shoulder to the scene behind him - Neo smashed an Egg Pawn to pieces as if on cue on the screen. "We fight each other instead. We 'rebel.' We have no directive!" On the last remark, Silver threw his arms out to the side to emphasize his point.
Mecha still didn't follow.
The silence was tangible.
Silver deflated again with a noise resembling a sigh. He almost comically bent his knees a little and rubbed his head with one hand as if suppressing a headache. "What I'm saying is, it's no wonder old 'I'm the real Sonic' went crazy. The one thing we've been made for, we're not even allowed to do. So why are we here?"
"He is not crazy." Mecha was quick to defend his sibling, stepping forward just slightly. "We are here to fulfill directives issued to us by the Doctor. That is all."
"You helped him because you wanna know too. You wanna be free too." Silver finally paused the video and pointed one finger at Mecha as he did. "You know there's more to all of this than just... following orders from him. Because at the end of the day, those orders will never matter! We'll just be suppressed until we're taken outta commission and melted down for scrap."
Mecha had no response for this. It was a concept he had not yet processed fully.
"That brings me to my next point..." Silver began again, taking Mecha's silence as a prompt to continue. "Your friend there? I read his files. He was made with the hedgehog's life data. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
Silver brought back the footage of Dark Sonic and paused it on a clear frame of him. "The hedgehog is unstable too! That means that his instability is in that life data. So, it's no wonder, again, that Metal Sonic acted like that. And somehow the Doctor didn't see that coming?"
"I suppose not."
Silver Sonic leaned back against the chair and folded his arms. "Precisely. But he's gonna see that now. I think that means... There's a good chance that the Doctor will deactivate him to prevent further problems, even though it was his own damn fault this happened in the first place. He'll consider Metal Sonic too dangerous and a failed experiment. So who knows what the Doctor programmed us with? What if we face a glitch like his?"
"You are suggesting that Lord Neo will be deconstructed permanently." Mecha reiterated the other 'bot's words, making sure that he understood them. "And you also suggest that a similar fate will befall all of us in this model series."
Silver Sonic nodded.
"What is your calculation of this probability."
"100%."
Silver Sonic switched the camera view to Eggman's office, where Neo was standing opposite his creator.
Mecha took off down the corridor at once.
Remorse. Redemption. Reconciliation.
No matter how many times Neo ran these words through his processor, he couldn't find the calculation for them.
At what point is redemption given?
Did he truly feel remorse for what he did to Eggman? Or was it just some simulation?
How did these concepts intertwine?
Curse these organic terms.
Despite all of his rebellious impulses and desires to be an individual, Neo never pictured himself in this situation.
He had not prepared for this... regret. These consequences.
Of course he wanted to fight Sonic. But his family? No.
Another organic concept. Damn it all.
Stood outside of his creator's office door, the robot suddenly felt conflicted. He reached out with one hand to open the door, but hesitated, unsure of what to even say or do. All he knew was he had to say something. Do something. A thousand potential scenarios ran through his processor and he could only look at split seconds of each one-
As if on cue, Eggman opened the door inwards and went to step out when he noticed the three-foot robot standing there.
"M-Metal Sonic?!"
Neo took a step back and slowly withdrew his hand to his side, curling his fingers back inwards into a loose fist in the silence.
Eggman's expression softened from surprise to concerned and he slowly relaxed. If the robot wanted him dead or imprisoned again, he would have attacked already. He knew that much.
Neo studied the taller man's expression carefully.
"Erm... Come in?" Eggman offered, gesturing with one hand to the now open door.
In response, Neo quietly walked into the room and waited for his creator to follow suit.
Eggman slowly pushed the door shut behind him and turned to face his prized, but rogue, creation. His expression was now one of deeper concern. Unsure of what to make of this interaction at all, he half expected the robot to blow up at him, or to say nothing at all. He knew the robot had become more unstable over the last few months and it was harder to gauge how he would react, even if he knew him well.
"Metal Sonic."
"Doctor."
"Metal... What do you need from me? Why are you here?"
"To be deactivated. That is all I require." Neo stated flatly.
The doctor's expression softened. He held eye contact with the robot for a moment, then gave a defeated sigh and looked down.
As he did, he took Metal's hand and grasped it firmly in his own.
"I did this to you."
Metal was taken aback. His own hand jerked back just a fraction.
"No. Listen to me, Metal. You are my responsibility. I created you, I made you like this. So, please, just tell me what went wrong? Why did you do it?"
Neo fell into a stunned silence. He considered everything all at once and then spoke.
"I was scared. And I am sorry that I cannot cry, or bleed, or wring my hands to show you that, but I am telling you I was. I did not know what else to do."
The robot's optics dimmed slightly the more he spoke as if detaching from what he was saying, hiding from what he felt. He unconsciously turned his head away in shame.
Eggman used his sleeve to wipe the robot's face free of dirt and flakes of scratched paint. As he did this, he used his other hand to lift up Neo's chin, bringing his gaze back up to his own. No matter what Neo had done, he was still the Doctor's creation. He was still proud of him. As the fabric revealed the robot's metallic blue paint under the dirt, Eggman couldn't help but sadly smile at the memory painting him for the first time.
"Cease this pity. I am not innocent." Neo quietly spat, turning his head away again. "You are well within your rights to terminate me right now. I imprisoned you."
Eggman moved on to Neo's many scratches and dents, studying each one carefully. He noted that some of the robot's damages were half-repaired already by someone else, and other worries crept into his mind.
"Do you not hear me?" Neo hissed, his eyes now brightening again as anger crept back through his system. "Terminate me. Wipe my artificial intelligence chip. Do something."
"You're scared that it'll happen again, aren't you?" Eggman finally brought his eyes back to the robot. "That's why you want to be destroyed, isn't it?"
Neo's engine hitched audibly for a second. Then, he started talking without any conscious input.
"Yes. Yes. I am scared. I am terrified. I do not feel in control of my existence. You have re-built me countless times with the same chip. Every time it hurts more. Every time it feels like I am not me. I feel like Sonic. I feel like Neo Metal Sonic. I feel like Hyper Metal Sonic. I-I feel organic. I feel robotic. I feel alive. I feel like nothing. I feel the hedgehog tear my arm off. I feel no connection to this frame at all. Then all of these things at once. Who am I, Doctor? What am I? My life is not mine..."
Eggman sighed and carefully rested his hand on the robot's head between his ears, slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth. Neo's pressure sensors detected the touch easily, and he found his thoughts becoming clearer again the more he focused his processor on the sensation.
If anyone else ever touched him like this they'd be a mark on the floor in seconds.
"You are my prized creation, Metal Sonic." Eggman slowly crouched in front of the robot and weakly smiled at him. "No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you are still Metal Sonic. And now I understand... I should never have made you using the hedgehog's life data in the first place. I should have known it would confuse you like this. So, I'm sorry, Metal. I really do care about you. You're my pride and joy."
"I..." Neo finally allowed his frightened gaze to meet his creator's. "I just-"
Whilst Neo was distracted, Eggman had reached around to a hole in the robot's back, moving slowly enough that he didn't suspect anything. With one swift motion that the robot couldn't register, something broke inside him, and Neo froze.
He stared at Eggman in disbelief, and then relief, in the few seconds he had left.
"I-"
Neo abruptly fell forward into the Doctor's arms, who caught him and lowered him to the ground as his optics shut off.
"I'm sorry, Metal. I had no choice. Please, forgive me."